Enamoured
by Articulata
Summary: Gilbert was besotted with Anne, and when the perfect opportunity to be with her arises, he realises that there was so much more to her than her facade. Broken down, and shattered, Gilbert is the first person who finds Anne and consoles her, and that lights a spark to their promising relationship.
1. The unforeseen encounter (Anne,Gilbert)

I was walking down the beaten path in the woods, when I heard a small voice sobbing in the distance. Alerted, I followed the voice, making sure to tread through the leaves gently. As I came nearer to the sniffling, the voice started to murmur quietly. The words sounded muddled, but the voice sounded extremely familiar. I had heard that voice multiple times in school. That same voice that was always talking non stop. That same voice that answered all the questions. The same voice that matched the owners fiery temper. That same voice that screamed at me several times before. That same voice I had fallen in love with the first day I heard it. It was Anne.

Her bright auburn hair, and velvety white dress came into view…and so did a huge mound of broken wood, clay statues and glass. A bunch of feathers were bestrewn among the ground beside her. She was bent over, on her knees and sobbing into her delicate small hands. My heart stopped and I froze as soon as I saw her. I didn't know what to do. The girl I had loved since the day I laid eyes on her was right in front of me weeping, and lying shattered on the ground, and I didn't know what to do.

I slowly approached her and kneeled down behind her placing a single hand on her shoulder. She got startled and whipped her head around to see who it was. As soon as I saw her face I was stunned. That beautiful freckled face that was always lit up by a bright glow , was now drained and pale, covered in tears. Her luscious hair was let loose and stuck to the sides of her face. Her skin was void of all colour and complexion. Her eyes were opened wide, and shocked, filled to the brim with tears pouring out continuously. She looked crushed from the inside with no life left in her. It killed me to see her that way, and I couldn't take it any longer.

"What happened Anne?" I asked, while grabbing her shoulders. "Leave me alone!" She shouted and tried to wriggle her way out of my grip, but to no avail. "Let go of me! Let go of me Gilbert!" She yelled and squirmed vigorously. I just stood my ground and didn't let go of her. "Stop it Anne. Just tell me what's wrong. There's no point in you trying to escape..it won't work." I replied staring into her eyes. She tried a little longer then just stopped. She laid still for a while then just collapsed bawling her eyes out once more. I caught her before she hit the ground and pulled her close to me. She just cried and cried, not saying anything. I held her the whole time and let her be. Soon her eyes fluttered close and she slipped into a deep sleep. I watched her peacefully lying in my arms, and realised how long I had wished for this moment. For her to fall asleep in my arms, and for me, to hold her close.


	2. Astonished, Bewildered and Confused

I woke up with a start. I looked around to find myself in my room, neatly tucked into my bed, and it looked like it was about 5 in the evening. I turned to my right, and found Gilbert dozing on a chair beside my bed. Perplexed, I sat and stared at him for about five minutes, still questioning the fact that I was in bed at this time, and that Gilbert was sitting next to me. Gilbert started to stir in his sleep, and I quickly slipped out of bed and hastily tip toed down the stairs.

I came down to see Marilla in the kitchen baking some scones. "Marilla?!" I yelled. She jumped in fright and dropped the tray she was holding. "GOOD HEAVENS ANNE! You scared the life out of me! Where did you get the wicked idea of sneaking up behind me and trying to give me a heart attack from?" She retorted. "I am terribly sorry for giving you a fright." I said while walking over and picking up the tray. "But why in the WORLD is Gilbert in our house? To be specific, in my ROOM?"

Marilla's expression quickly turned stern, and she replied "Well, that is an extremely impertinent question to ask! Why wouldn't he be in house? He is definitely welcome here, in fact you should thank Gilbert for being here-" "NO thank you, I would not want to show appreciation to him for silently watching me while I sleep! Why on earth would I thank him? Marilla, you have a very bizarre way of thinking! Do you know how uncomfortable I felt, with him sitting there, WITHOUT MY KNOWLEDGE? Do you know how I would have felt not knowing he saw me, when I did not get any time to at least tidy myself up or make myself look presentable? How dare you let him do that? What would you know about my transcendent embarrassment? I would never want him to see me like that! I would have looked hideous in my sleep! I cannot even fathom what he would have thought of me!" I said all in one breath.

Marilla now looked shocked. "Well, Anne, did you even care to ask why he was here? You didn't even let me finish! He found you unconscious in the woods, and carried you back here. You never know what could have happened to you if he didn't find you!" I was taken aback by that, and now suddenly regretted what I had said about him. "Well I didn't know that was why he was here." Marilla slowly smiled and said "Well, you see, there is a reason for everything Anne, dear.…And if I'm not wrong…it seems like you care for what he thinks about yo-" "You TRULY are absurd Marilla!" I said, turned around, and stormed off up the stairs.

As soon as I entered my room, I found Gilbert, awake and staring at me with a cheeky grin on his face. "Well, what are you looking at?" I asked, angrily. "Well, you never asked me what I thought, and to be honest…you looked quite beautiful in your sleep." Gilbert said. I was stunned by what he said, and didn't know how to reply. No one had ever called me beautiful before. I am NOT beautiful, how did he think I was? I have hideous freckles and horrible red hair. I am not beautiful at all! The only girl who's beautiful is Diana. She's got gorgeous dark hair, and Jerry even called her 'the most beautiful girl in the world'!

I just stood there staring at him, eyes wide open, until I finally gathered the courage to say ''Oh." Gilbert raised his eyebrows and remarked "Wow, this is the first time you didn't reply with a witty comment!" I got angry and quickly tried to think of something to redeem myself and said "I never asked you what you thought, as you rightly said yourself, so why did you say that in the first place?" Gilbert smiled, and responded "There you go. Another witty reply by Anne Shirley Cuthbert." I smiled, and for a while we both just stayed there grinning at each other.


	3. Carrying Lies

Gilbert POV

-Flashback-

As she laid asleep in my arms, I couldn't take my eyes off her. She looked so serene and beautiful in her sleep, and I could have stared at her for hours but I knew I had to do something. I slowly slid one arm under her legs and lifted her up. As I lifted her up, her head rocked back and her ravishing red hair flowed down. I got back on my feet and gently carried her while treading through the leaves. My eyes were fixed on her face and her red lips. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed her white frock fall back a little bit, revealing small sections of her long slender legs. My breath stopped. My eyes hovered there, but I was hesitant of it. I took the bottom of her frock, paused for a second, then pushed it back to where it should have been.

I continued walking through the woods until the Cuthbert's residence slowly came into view. I quickened my pace and approached the gate. The wind blew Anne's hair and it was almost as if her hair was dancing. I was enraptured by the sight, but something else caught my attention. Her eyes fluttered open and for a split second my eyes were locked with hers. Her blue eyes were wide with wonder and bewilderment and it looked like she wanted to say something but she couldn't. Then all of a sudden she looked exhausted once again and her eyes closed and she slipped back into her deep sleep. I just smiled and continued towards the Cuthbert's front door.

As if on cue, Ms Cuthbert opened the door and came onto the porch with an anxious expression on her face. As soon as she saw me holding Anne, unconscious, she looked shocked and started to run up to me. Once she came near me, she immediately reached out for Anne and took her from me and her eyes darted frantically from me to her and she couldn't find the words to say anything. She kept stammering and finally managed to say "W-w-what h-happened t-to Anne? My l-lord! Is sh-she alright?" She kept blurting out some sentences but I couldn't make sense of anything she was saying, and I just placed my arms on her shoulders and said "Calm down Ms Cuthbert. It's alright, she's fine. She is just a bit exhausted. Just let her sleep for a while, and I am sure she will feel much better." She just stared at me for a while, processing what I said then started asking a hundred questions again. All I was able to understand was "H-how did this happen? Where did you find her?" I didn't know howto answer that question. I didn't know whether Anne would be fine with me revealing to Ms Cuthbert what had happened, or whether she would want to tell her herself. I tried thinking of the least shocking explanation that was closest to the truth and said "I was walking with Anne back from school, and she seemed quite exhausted. Her face was pale with fatigue and, well…. then…she fainted. I…carried her back here." Only once I said that, I realised how concerning that actually sounded for a mother. There was no other explanation I could have come up with. Now Marilla's face went white as well. "OH MY LORD! What could have caused that to happen? Oh what happened to you dear Anne?" She muttered to herself while rushing Anne back into their she stopped in her tracks, turned around and said "Gilbert dear, you are welcome to come inside. There are freshly baked scones on the table!"


End file.
